What Hollywood Would Make of #HRTech’s 5 Central Themes

Human resources professional have not always been known as the earliest of adopters, but in many ways, today’s technological advances affect human resources more than most departments.

What does this mean for the present and future of technology solutions for human resources? People smarter than I have already tackled the question, and – as many of you know – there’s even an entire conference devoted to this mission (I’ve attended the past five years).

This year the HR Technology conference is happening October 4-7 in Chicago (MightyRecruiter will be there – so schedule your demo today!).

It’s one of the industry’s foremost conferences, and in anticipation, program co-chair Steve Boese has put forward the five developments that are transforming the landscape of HR technology. Beyond the details of the themes, the overarching tone of the article is that the themes have moved from what’s next to what’s happening now.

We’ve made sense of these trends by breaking them down through a Hollywood lens, which means even HR technophobes should benefit!

In response to Making Sense of HR and People Data: With great data comes great responsibility.

Yes, that’s a Spiderman reference. Those are Uncle Ben’s last words to Peter Parker, and they prove to impact his decision to go all in on his professional endeavor (being a superhero). What I’m saying, go all in on more data.

In human resources, the data very much can dictate the scale of your organizational responsibility. Without knowing data of your people, it’s hard to justify more budget or more headcount. Across your human resources and talent acquisition department, how much data transparency is there? Does everyone know average duration of employment, candidates per hire, interviews per hire, or even the most important important metrics for your company’s talent management and talent acquisition departments to be tracking?

In response to Engaging and Retaining Talent: It is ten times more expensive to hire a new employee.

Yes, that’s an Office reference.

The manager – proving his business ignorance – says getting a new customer is equally as expensive. But how often do recruiting departments think about recruiting their own employees? Keeping your existing employees productive and motivated is a core objective of the human resources department.

It’s far easier and less expensive to increase duration of employment than it is to hire more people. On your technology budgeting, what is the ratio of technology to increase retention to technology to improve talent acquisition? According to LeadershipIQ, 46% of new hires fail and are let go from their jobs within 18 months of being hired and only 11% of these are for lack of skill, while 89% are for attitudinal reasons like motivation and lack of coachability. Technology that could help better coach and develop people could yield a bigger ROI than technology that lessens time to hire.

In response to The Continuing Impact of Marketing on HR and HR Tech: If you build it, they will come… is not enough.

Yes, I am disagreeing with a Field of Dreams reference to explain how marketing is increasingly important to the success of your HR department. Marketing is the opposite of “Build it, and they will come;” marketing is going out and convincing people “to come.”

I believe we are in an age when the best recruiters are the best community builders. By building large online communities, recruiters can create demand in people willing to work with their organization. Technology-wise this means increased emphasis on tools to build online communities. What is your talent acquisition strategy on social media? What is the call to action to join your community? What skills do you more candidates in your talent pipeline need to have? And which technology will move the needle?

In response to Succeeding with Modern HR Technology: Why Fix It, If It Ain’t Broken?

This is a reference to Kevin Bacon quoting his uncle Olaf on live television in the movie He Said, She Said. After he says it, his co-anchor throws a mug at his head, and the news station has to cut the feed. My point is that the technology that powers your process and day-to-day approach can always be improved. The mindset of ‘this works, don’t change it’ is a mindset that blocks innovation.

Everyone likes to think their technology is up to date. There’s a high rip-and-replace cost associated with admitting a change is needed. As you walk around the floor of the HR Technology conference, don’t just meet with the vendors where you know you need to improve. Take a few minutes to meet with vendors who offer a solution to a problem that you think you have already ‘solved.’ Ask them open-ended questions, and you may just find they address holes in your process that you have yet to consider.

In response to Design and User Experience Comes to the Forefront: That is correct.

Yes, that’s a Billy Madison reference. It fits because Billy is relearning the education he should have learned. While design and user experience should have always been at the forefront of any technology used by a company, it hasn’t been.

Boese cites the “introduction of the original iPhone in 2007” as the reason for increased emphasis on design, usability, and user experience. The important takeaway here is that the bar for evaluating any technology solution is the ease of use for its consumer-facing technological counterpart.

Corporate HR technologies have long faced a user adoption problem.

Accessibility is the name of the game. Most users did not choose the system. So while it is their job to use the system, usage will decline if it is difficult to use. For example, is every candidate of every recruiter in your applicant tracking system? Are your recruiters using your technology? What technology do you have that is incentivizing and tracking rewards, bonuses and retention? Is it working?

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Going to HR Technology? Don’t forget to visit MightyRecruiter, the leading-edge solution that makes finding great talent simpler and easier than ever. Schedule your demo today to find out more!